"i'm ready to deliver that change on day one." mark farrell. a proven leader with the experience we need. tonight from the storm zone, florida bracing for impact with monster hurricane milton just hours away from making landfall. milton already battering florida's west coast unleashing a terrifying tornado outbreak as it closes in. a massive police facility collapsing. the hurricane growing in size, now a major category 3 storm with 120-mile-per-hour winds and expected to bring flooding rain,

damaging winds, and up to 13 feet of life-threatening storm surge. president biden warning, it looks like the storm of the century. officials fearing the impact could reshape florida's coastline. millions urged or ordered to evacuate. the highways jammed. many gas stations running out. the national weather service warning now is the time to shelter in place. our full team coverage here in florida and al roker with a new track as we come on the air. also tonight, the storm impacting the race for the white house. fema racing to reassure those in milton's path on the heels of the devastation from hurricane helene. kamala harris slamming donald trump over the misinformation he's spreading about the storm response. plus, going out with a bang. one of the oldest hotel casinos on the vegas strip brought tumbling down as the city makes way for a big, new gamble. >> announcer: this is nbc "nightly news"

reporting tonight from florida's gulf coast. here is lester holt. good evening from tampa. hurricane milton is here. while the eye of the strom has yet to make its official landfall along florida's west coast, milton is already making its mark heralding its arrival earlier with a terrifying outbreak of possible tornadoes. some of it captured on video. most of the state right now under tornado watches. where i am, we're already seeing what appear to be tropical storm wind gusts along with pouring rains. the storm has dropped down to a category 3 in strength with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour expected to hit the florida peninsula still as a major hurricane generating a life-threatening storm surge of up to 13 feet in places. sail drone video shared by noaa showed waves in excess of 28 feet and wind gusts over 75 miles per hour. 40 nautical miles from the storm center. 12 million floridians are under flood watches tonight as we

head into the evening. my team and i were out today as the race to save lives entered its final hours. with hurricane milton on a collision course with florida's gulf coast, it's already unleashing dangerous impacts. >> that's crazy. >> reporter: including an outbreak of at least a dozen reported tornadoes. >> that is a tornado. there it is. wow. >> reporter: this one jumping the interstate and this video showing the likely twister ripping through a front yard in fort myers. >> about ten minutes ago, a tornado came ripping through here. this is a devastating tornado. it took out that 10,000-square-foot red iron building. >> reporter: while a possible tornado in stuart tears homes apart. tonight, drenching rain and powerful winds are already bearing down with conditions only expected to deteriorate in the coming hours. it's around 10:45 in the morning. we're already seeing the first signs of

flooding along treasure island, sunset beach specifically but what i really wanted to show you is this image. if you squint your eyes, you think you're looking at a new england blizzard. it's not snow, of course. it's sand. this sand was driven off the beach during hurricane helene, literally burying cars and parts of houses. this is why folks are so concerned about the power of storm surge, that it can do that, lift all that sand and dump it here in the street. tampa mayor jane castor hopes her city will be spared the worst, but storm surge remains her biggest fear. >> as you've seen, the area is saturated completely. we just can't take that storm surge, because it comes into tampa bay. there's nowhere for it to go. >> then power will be a big deal. >> power will be a huge deal. >> reporter: today with the clock ticking down towards landfall, crews race to clear more debris from helene, and hospitals made last-minute

preparations. >> it's looking like the storm of the century. >> reporter: as officials made final pleas for people to put safety first. >> i'm begging you, especially if you are in an "a" zone, you need to get out, and you need to get out now. >> reporter: the state's shelters have room for nearly 200,000 people, but many are staying with loved ones. at a gas station in orlando, nbc's priscilla thompson met terry burke clutching her rosary, her home in st. pete was ripped apart by helene. >> we lost everything. >> in her home. her home was devastated. it's awful. >> reporter: now she's had to evacuate two hours away to stay with family. >> i think it's just cumulative, you know. it's just you start to get pretty overwhelmed. >> reporter: as we drove through tampa today, we found only a few people remaining stocking up on essentials. >> you're sticking around? >> no, i'm going to higher ground, a nice stable house that has

a generator already installed. >> reporter: the mayor of nearby treasure island, tyler payne, says he's relieved so many in his community also heeded the warnings. >> properties can be replaced. we can rebuild, but saving people's lives is, of course, the most important thing. >> reporter: tonight, his is among the communities bracing for the worst. >> these are kind of anxious minutes and hours right now. what's going through your mind? >> yeah, i don't know. my mind is fried from just going through a huge storm and preparing for it is really surreal to be staring this down just feeling for our residents that have already gone through so much loss and now having to prepare for it again is just unfathomable. >> and we should really tell you that this is a wide impact zone. just to the south, sarasota may be right in milton's bull's-eye. that's where tom llamas is tonight. tom, we're really starting to feel the

effects of the storm. i'm sure you are there as well. >> reporter: that's right, lester. over the last hour the conditions have started to worsen here in sarasota. the police department here just announced they are suspending emergency services, because the winds are just too strong. there are sheets of rain right now, hurricane-force wind gusts that we've been experiencing over the last five, ten minutes, but that's not even the big danger. the big danger, over there, the bay, that storm surge, a wall of water, it's like something they think they've never seen before, and it's already tonight hitting naples. as hurricane milton rips towards florida, water is already flooding the streets of sarasota. the city bracing for a potential direct hit. >> we have winds that might be in excess of 120 to 130 or more miles per hour. this is going to be an intense disaster for sarasota county. >> reporter: storm surge warnings are in place for nearly all of florida's western coast, and sarasota could be hit with 9 to 13 feet of water.

>> everybody is so tired already and already has storm fatigue. >> reporter: the rain is already nonstop in sarasota, saturating the ground, and that's even before the storm surge moves in. there's going to be so much water in this area, that's why officials say in some cases it's unsurvivable. storm surge is the deadliest threat. it occurs when winds push water on shore. the initial rush of water and waves can rise suddenly. three feet of surge is considered life-threatening. at six feet, driving to safety will be impossible. the weight of the water can break through doors and windows. more than ten feet of surge will inundate the first floor of homes and buildings. the water can sweep them off their foundations, and entire neighborhoods may be destroyed. lines of ambulances packed roads early today as some hospitals and nursing homes work to get people out. schools in sarasota transforming into evacuation centers as emergency workers prepare for the potentially

catastrophic storm. >> we will respond, but know that there might be a time when we have to delay our response because of the storm conditions. >> reporter: many taking no chances. >> with a 10 to 15-foot storm surge, i didn't want to be anywhere near that. >> reporter: and the big concern tonight was the barrier islands near sarasota. they were evacuated, but police went as far as making a blockade so people wouldn't get in and cut off the water there. they want to make it clear if the landfall is over sarasota, that storm surge is unsurvivable, and those people on the barrier islands needed to get out. lester. >> all right, tom, thanks. al, milton is moving faster than expected. >> that's right, lester. in fact, the system pushing to the north. storm surge, something we're concerned about, 120-mile-per-hour winds moving northeast

at 15. we do have tornado watches still in effect until 9:00 this evening. it makes landfall sometime, we think, between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. with tropical force winds. right now these wind gusts, 39 in tampa, 48 in west palm, gainesville, 30, and some places could see wind gusts of up to 127 miles per hour in sarasota. the storm surge again going to be a big issue. we're going to watch that very closely, and then as we also watch to see what happens as far as the rainfall is concerned, we are talking about upwards of 18 inches of rain. we've got a flood risk that's going to be stretching from orlando to the east coast and back down to sarasota, lester. still a very volatile situation. >> this is something else. al, thank you. they are bracing for a major storm surge in ft. myers to our south. sam brock is there. sam, it's already been a dangerous day there. >> reporter: that's right. tornadic activity. at least one reported by the weather service here in ft. myers leaving behind a trail of destruction. but right now all eyes

are on the water specifically and the river behind me basically at street level. there are some 800,000 people that live here in lee county. half of them are under mandatory evacuations and, lester, that extends all the way west to the barrier islands that will sound familiar, ft. myers beach, pine island. you're talking about folks who just went through something with ian where boats were hoisted above power lines, and for blocks and blocks and blocks homes just obliterated. now, many folks just trying to build those homes back as hurricane milton is hanging in the balance. back to you. >> yes, sam, folks going through a lot here. the coastal parts of florida are not the only ones that will be hit hard by the storm. farther inland, orlando could face more than a foot of rain and major flooding. priscilla thompson is there for us. priscilla, good evening. >> reporter: yeah, lester, here in orlando, the rain has been coming down like this for the past several hours. you can see here the water already starting to pool near this drain, and this isn't even the worst of it.

across the city, businesses have closed including major theme parks like universal and disney, and you may remember during hurricane ian, orlando saw devastating flooding, and milton is expected to be far worse with up to 14 inches of rain, which could lead to catastrophic flash floods. officials in this county say they distributed more than 200,000 sandbags and have also pre-positioned pumps to help get that water out. tonight many residents here telling us they're prepared but still worried. lester. >> all right, priscilla thompson, thanks. we turn now to a political storm over disaster relief and the federal government's response to these hurricanes with vice president harris criticizing former president trump again. here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: with hurricane milton churning in the gulf tonight president biden is ramping up his criticism of misinformation ahead of the storm. >> it's un-american. it's not who the hell we are.

>> reporter: meanwhile trump in battleground pennsylvania attacking harris. >> she's just led the worst rescue operation in history in north carolina. >> reporter: and intensifying political storm as both campaigns battle over federal disaster relief. >> they had no money. you know where they gave the money, to illegal immigrants coming in. >> reporter: that's false. fema says that more than a billion dollars distributed to shelter migrants is from a different government program, not disaster relief. harris on a late night show slamming trump for pushing misinformation. >> and it's crude. have you no empathy, man? no, for the suffering of other people. >> reporter: the former president also falsely says fema will only give storm survivors $750. trump's claims drawing pushback from other republicans. >> those rumors are totally unsubstantiated. >> reporter: still north carolina congressman chuck edwards says there are legitimate questions about fema's response. >> it was more than

three days before we ever saw the first folks in here from fema. >> reporter: though several governors now say the feds have provided the aid they need, some survivors are still desperate for fema's help. >> why aren't they here? why aren't they helping the people that need it? >> reporter: ahead of hurricane milton, a federal watchdog says fema staffing is running on a razor's edge. for example, of the more than 1,200 workers who specialize in disaster recovery assistance, just 3 are listed as available. but the fema administrator insists the agency can handle multiple disasters saying it has a layered staffing approach. lester. >> gabe gutierrez at the white house, thank you. now to new developments over that reporting in bob woodward's upcoming book involving former president trump and russian president putin and the claims trump secretly sent putin covid testing machines. garrett haake is covering the trump campaign in pennsylvania. garrett, the kremlin is now weighing in. >> reporter: that's right, lester.

a kremlin spokesman telling reuters that russia did accept shipments of covid testing equipment from the u.s. in the early part of the pandemic in exchange for russian respiration devices. tonight a former senior trump administration official tells nbc news this was part of a broader effort to support other foreign governments with supplies and that trump liked to personally call leaders to go over the supplies being sent. woodward reported that trump sent the tests for putin's personal use, and that the two have spoken as many as seven times since trump left office, both of which trump says are false. today the kremlin denied putin has spoken to trump at all since he left office. lester. >> all right, garrett haake, thank you. in 60 seconds it's not just the physical damage people are so worried about here in florida, we'll look at the financial pain so many now face as insurance rates go through the roof storm after storm. stay with us. ogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms

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tampa bay now. in addition to the lives at risk and potential devastation, it could have another impact, disrupting florida's already difficult market for home and flood insurance. stephanie gosk explains. >> reporter: in the middle of hurricane helene -- >> we saw the water come into the house and immediately filed the claim. >> reporter: er pediatrician dr. megan martin was already worried about insurance. showing the damage to her home on social media. >> and now you have milton barreling in. >> luckily as an er doctor, when the crisis hits, that's when i go into my focus mode. >> reporter: this is what her st. petersburg, florida, neighborhood looked like after helene. >> what have your premiums been like. >> we've lived in our house for eight years, and our homeowners and flood premium have tripled. >> reporter: florida residents pay the highest in the country on average nearly $11,000 annually for homeowners' insurance. flood insurance is separate, and it's not going to pay for everything. dr. martin says she is

covered for $25,000, but facing 75,000 in damage, and that's all before milton hits. her neighborhood is facing a complicated thicket of claims. helene was a water event. milton is going to be a wind and water event. different insurance covers different things. how are they going to determine what was damaged by which storm? hurricane ian from two years ago may be an indication of what homeowners are up against. after massive damage on florida's west coast, a "washington post" investigation found some policy holders received less than 20% of what they claimed in damages. some insurers have even pulled out of florida altogether. the director for the national center for disaster preparedness at columbia university says the insurance market is under pressure due to climate change. >> we're seeing hurricanes intensifying more quickly, carrying more rainfall, and unless we get ahead of that, there's really no possibility of creating an insurance market when you're constantly being battered and having to have record payouts. >> reporter: fixes, he

says, include changing where and how buildings are constructed, but that's not going to help dr. martin now. >> you have to brace yourself for the storm, and then you have to brace yourself for higher premiums. >> we're going to be pricing ourselves out of this community unfortunately. >> and, stephanie, what about these folks in florida that have been dropped by the insurance altogether? what are their options? >> reporter: well, lester, the federal government does help out in a disaster, but there is also a state-backed insurer, sometimes called the insurance of last resort here in florida, but those premiums could go up more than 10%, lester. >> all right, stephanie gosk, thank you. we will take a short break and then the dramatic final act for a las vegas landmark that's next. moderate-to-severe eczema.ayr and show off clearer skin and less itch with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes

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in las vegas, a final farewell to one of the strip's most iconic mainstays. our liz kreutz was there as the tropicana hotel went out with a bang. >> reporter: in just 22 seconds and with 2,000 pounds of explosives, las vegas' legendary tropicana hotel coming down in spectacular fashion. >> just like that, they're gone. >> reporter: the implosion marking the end of an era for the 67-year-old resort as the city makes its next big gamble on sports. >> what's this going to be? >> it's going to be a grand stadium. >> reporter: the property set to become the site of a new mlb stadium for the a's who plan to move to vegas, the fourth professional sports team to do so in the last seven years. >> we have an opportunity to take a historic project and

turn it into something, the latest and greatest and next evolution bringing baseball to las vegas. >> reporter: it's not the first time the trop's played a role. when it opened in 1957 the so-called tiffany of the strip brought luxury, opulence, and star-studded guests to the desert. >> did the strip look anything like it does today when the tropicana first opened? >> not at all. not at all. >> reporter: over the years the hotel introducing vegas to the now iconic feather showgirls and earning its place in pop culture as the backdrop for films like "the godfather" and even "james bond." >> i hear that the hotel tropicana is quite comfortable. >> reporter: but now as vegas rolls the dice on a new era, the trop with one more trick up its sleeve. seven decades of history vanishing in a puff of smoke. liz kreutz, nbc news, las vegas. we'll take a break, then we're back with al roker and a late update on the path of milton, next. on t he

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well, it is pouring right now where we are in tampa. before we leave you tonight, we want to check in with al roker for one last look at the forecast as hurricane milton closes in. al, what's the latest? >> getting closer and closer, lester, 50 miles west-southwest of sarasota. 120-mile-per-hour winds moving northeast at 15. again, we're looking

at storm surges anywhere from six to nine feet north of sarasota, 9 to 13 feet from tampa down to fort myers, and then we're looking at a lot of heavy rain making its way in. we're talking high risk of flash flooding from the east coast of florida all the way down to sarasota. we'll continue to update it and, of course, have details as they're warranted. lester. >> al roker, appreciate it. thank you, sir. that is "nightly news" for this wednesday. join extended hurricane coverage all night on nbc news now. thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night. f yourself a each nd

from landfall. rain, wind, and tornadoes are already battering florida, and the worst is yet to come. good afternoon. i'm audrey asistio. welcome to nbc bay area news at 4:30. our chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri, is tracking milton for us. he's going to break